29. Uniforms stifle individuality
Answers
Answer:
First of all, students should not wear uniforms because they take away a student’s sense of individuality. Imagine this: 30 students sit in desks in a small classroom. Each student wears tan pants and a white shirt. They sit with their school books and papers in front of them. They all look exactly alike. Does this seem right? Of course not! We are all individuals! We are unique in many different ways. Why try to make all students look alike? This idea is supported by testimony from a 17-year-old student forced to wear uniforms. Her story was reported in National Catholic Reporter of March, 2002, and she said, "Everyone hated it. It completely killed any sense of individuality any one of us had. Everyone looked the same. It was sad to watch" (3). Clearly, students with experience in wearing uniforms feel that they take away a sense of individuality.
Next, school uniforms do not allow students to express themselves. Teenagers are at an age where they are trying to establish their identity. Is it fair to prevent them from exploring self-expression by making them wear uniforms? By taking away a student’s right to choose what to wear, we also take away the opportunity to express oneself. For example, if a young woman is very interested in becoming a fashion designer, she may begin to take home economics classes and train herself to make clothes and create patterns. If that were true, she would definitely want to wear her own creations to school; this would allow her to show off her achievements and gauge her peers’ responses to her newly created clothes. However, if she were a student who was forced to wear uniforms, she would not be able to express herself in this manner. To take that right away from America’s youth is an injustice.
Answer:
Mandatory school uniforms are not designed to " stifle individuality". They are imposed to prevent discrimination based on class. The poor kid wears the same as the kid with rich parents.
In some ways though it actually encourages individual expression as the pupil adapts the uniform, modifies it, personalises it to suit themselves. They bend and twist uniform rules, stretching them and interpreting them and taking them to their limits in order to be fashionable, in an unfashionable garment; to appear smart to their peers; to give the impression of being dangerous, edgy and rebellious while aligning themselves with whichever youth tribe they self-identify with.
Explanation:
I am neither for nor against school uniforms. I support their use in some settings, however, don't see their value in most schools.
Here is my take on how school uniforms take away from student individuality:
Pretty much all behaviors at a high school are mandated. Students follow rules about where to be when, what to eat and drink, when to eat and drink, when to use the restroom, when to speak, how to speak, what to think, and yes, how to dress. I have never heard of a school without at least some kind of dress code.
Your idea that students can express themselves in a modern high school in other ways is erroneous. There really is no time or place for them to do so during school hours. Teachers are required to maintain student engagement in course materials during the entirety of each class period, which allows for no spare time for students to be individuals, most passing periods are 3-5 minutes long, lunch is only 1/2 hour long, etc.
Perhaps more important to you question is this- What exactly do school uniforms ADD to a school environment? I believe a lot of parents or others who have not been in a classroom have an erroneous belief that school uniforms add to discipline and/or better academic outcomes for students, when in fact, extensive research shows the opposite.
Good behavioral and academic outcomes occur when solid teaching and administration are met with parental and community support. Uniforms add nothing to the mix